History Matters

13 July 1984 – The last all-White Parliament ends its last session in Cape Town 14 July 1904 – President Paul Kruger (78), president of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal) dies 15 July 1999 – Scientists uncover possible reason for SS Waratah’s disappearance 100 years later 16 July 1966 – Number of banned persons in South [...]

16 November 1930 – Chinua Achebe, Nigerian (Igbo) novelist, whose first novel Things Fall Apart was published in 1958, is born 17 November 1977 – Egyptian President Sadat formally accepts an invitation to visit Israel 18 November 1932 – Amy Johnson lands in Cape Town, beating the existing record flight time from London by over [...]

26 October 1939 – Karel Schoeman, well-known South African author and recipient of several awards, is born 27 October 1808 – Slave rebellion at the Cape led by Louis of Mauritius. Over 300 slaves and Khoi Khoi servants from outlying farms marched on Cape Town demanding their freedom 28 October 1997 – Forces loyal to [...]

5 October 1978 – US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance travels to South Africa to promote transition to black rule in Namibia 6 October 1654 – The Directors of the Dutch East India Company propose Hout Bay to Jan van Riebeeck as a possible area to settle some Dutch families 7 October 1978 – Rhodesian [...]

21 September 1965 – Gambia is admitted to the United Nations 22 September 1927 – The British colonial government declares the abolishment of slavery in Sierra Leone 23 September 1979 – Worldwide speculation begins that a bright flash detected over the southern Indian Ocean was a South African nuclear test 24 September – National Heritage [...]

14 September 1652 – Jan van Riebeeck visits Robben Island for the first time 15 September 1835 – Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands 16 September 1859 – David Livingstone “discovers” Lake Nyasa 17 September 1919 – German South West Africa is put under South African administration 18 September 1999 – [...]

7 September 1992- Soldiers Fire On Demonstrators on the border of Ciskei, South Africa, killing 28 and wounding 200. 8 September 1966 – The fist episode of Star Trek is aired on NBC. 9 September 1985 – American President Ronald Reagan reverses his earlier stance on South Africa and agrees to limited sanctions. 10 September [...]

31 August 1997 – Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, is killed in a car accident in Paris 1 September 1939 – Germany invades Poland, starting World War 2 2 September 1879 – Britain and the Zulu Nation sign a peace treaty 3 September 1905 – Johannes Nkosi, martyr for the Communist Party of South [...]

This Week in History 24 August 1998 – The trial of Dr Allan Boesak on charges of theft and fraud starts read more 25 August 1980 – Zimbabwe becomes a member of the United Nations read more 26 August 1960 – State of Emergency declared after the Sharpeville Massacre is lifted read more 27 August [...]